Generally, this invention relates to a stone cutter system. Specifically, this invention focuses upon a transportable stone cutter system for cutting and shaping stones in the field, at a construction site and the like, among others. For this purpose, the stone cutter system is so designed that it may be folded down during a transportation process. This improved stone cutter system makes remote or on-site construction work more feasible and, at the same time, enhances its safety during its transportation because of its foldable feature. Relevant methods disclose how the folding capability and towable characteristics are implemented.
Stone cutting machines were available a long time ago and as a matter of fact, fabrication of stone cutting machines may date back more than a hundred years ago as some of the U.S. patents show (U.S. Pat. Nos. 156,274, 332,999, 541,823, 600,856, and 624,581). Over decades there have been fascinating developments in the fabrication of stone splitting machines. To list a few, Biesanz et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,688), designed a masonry cutter that could manually break a slab and the like by applying mechanical forces to the slab. Vesper in his design (U.S. Pat. No. 2,867,205) started to use some kind of fluid ram as a simple hydraulic pressure generator. In recent years, various stone cutter machines have been invented (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,779,527, 5,598,832 and 5,662,094) and these machines have fully utilized mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and other techniques available to bevel or cut or break stones and other building materials, based upon different needs. These machines each had some advantage when dealing with different materials and inventors of these machines to some degree had overcome some weakness or drawbacks in their respective machines. However, all of these machines have a common drawback, that is, they are not easily movable. This weakness highly limited the practical uses of those machines in different circumstances and, because of this limitation tremendous labor and expense may have been involved to ship materials from a raw material source, to a place where the machine was located, and then to destinations where the materials were used. As a result there has remained some practical limitations with respect to feasibility, availability and accessability of such stone cutting machines.
This is not to say, however, no stone cutters were movable. Jones in his patent (U.S. Pat. No. 2,723,657) disclosed a towable stone cutting machine. Some other companies have also attempted making some kinds of similar towable machines as shown in their company brochures (Park Industries, Inc. and Vinci Machine Systems, Inc.). These designs to some degree have overcome some of the existing problems that prior stone cutters had. The stone cutting machine in Jones"" patent provided a portable machine in which the cutting machine appeared to set on a four-wheeled trailer. However, because of its height and size, and because of its unfoldability, this machine seems to raise some safety concerns during its transportation. In addition, the machine had to be loaded down onto the ground before it could be used. In a field condition where the ground may not be a planar surface and, in a worse case scenario, the ground has a slope, such a machine may experience limitations that result from its inherent design.
Schlough in his patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,405) described a xe2x80x9ctiltablexe2x80x9d stone shaping machine. The tiltable feature described was basically for shaping a piece of stone at a tilted angle to achieve a certain shaped stone. However, although the cutting portion of the tiltable machine can be pivotally tilted to a limited degree, it has nothing to do with a safety consideration. In addition, this machine appears to be designed so as to definitely not be portable. Therefore, it teaches away from the direction the present invention heads to improve such safety aspects on a portable stone cutting machine.
Another towable stone cutter machine is a stone splitting machine designed by Hutton Stone Cutters, Inc. (refer to the company brochure). This stone cutter machine has accomplished a more feasible design for the machine to be both towable and, at the same time, be laid down during its transportation. However, this design has drawbacks. First, obviously, this machine lacks safety features. The machine is not electrically connected to an automobile that supplies a towing force and, therefore, there is no brake system and safety tail lights. The machine frame is in an overhang position during its transportation, and that may result in a severe accident. Secondly, since the set up process needs to be done manually, it is in fact not conveniently designed. Thirdly, since the machine is designed as a small machine type, it can be only used for small stones and building materials.
Conventional methods as to how to provide a towable stone cutter and at the same time to lower the safety risks have not been successfully presented for such existing problems. Some critical aspects remain to be dealt with and improved. As those skilled in the art may readily understand, basically, to achieve maximum usage of a stone cutter for different sized and different shaped stones and building materials, the stone cutter may have to maintain a minimum height and a comparatively larger supporting frame and overall size. On the other hand, to achieve a safer transportation goal, the stone cutter may have to be kept as low and as small as possible. Such a dilemma has been existing for a long time. None of the available stone cutters have the desired towable characteristics and safety features.
Based on the above analysis, it appears that there has been a long felt but unsatisfied need for the invention while the needed implementing arts and elements have long been available. What appears to be an urgent need in the field of stone cutting machines would be a machine with a higher capability and a higher cutting power that satisfies the convenient feature for users, and is towable so the users can use it anywhere they want. At the same time, the machine would have all the necessary safety characteristics that are vital for transportation. Although there have been many stone cutting machines designed, patented and fabricated, appreciation that such a problem existed and what the problem was appears to have been unseen by those skilled in the art.
It may also appear that there may have been substantial attempts by those skilled in the art to fill the need for a towable machine with highly safe features for transportation or to cope with the difficulties in the past. However, those attempts did not succeed, perhaps because of a failure to understand what the problem truly was. The available art in the field has thus taught away from the technical direction in which the patentee went.
On the other hand, as for the present invention, the inventors have identified the problem in the field and have so designed a stone cutting system that has filled the needs practically and has solved many of the difficulties that the prior art faced. That appropriate practical designs have been selected is perhaps evidenced by the fact that even in its early stages of sales, this design has achieved significant commercial success as a result of the invention itself, not because of extensive advertising or the like. This invention advances over the prior art and it is not just a gradual slope of improvement. In fact, until the present invention, there has been no such stone cutting machine that appropriately filled the needs as described above.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a commercially valuable stone cutting system, which is foldable and safely transportable. Specifically, this invention provides a foldable and transportable stone cutter system for use in the field, at a construction site, and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to create a safely towable stone cutting system. To achieve this goal, this system is so designed that, first of all, its overall shape and weight are reduced but its cutting power remains unchanged, when compared to other available similar stone cutters. Secondly, the foldable cutting portion of the system is conceived and made on a towable transportation system. This system comprises all the necessary towing components needed and possesses safety features.
It is another object of the present invention that the stone cutter system is so designed that it may be folded down during a transportation process. This improved stone cutter system makes remote or on-site construction work more feasible and, at the same time, has enhanced its safety during its transportation because of its foldable feature.
It is a further goal of the present invention to maximally maintain each of the machine""s cutting teeth in firm contact with an irregular stone to be cut so the stone can be cut into a desired shape. That is, each of the teeth may be evenly held against the uneven surface of the stone by adjusting the relative position of each of the teeth and an elastic element such as an inbound table spring element underneath an inbound table. This goal can be achieved by introducing multiple hydraulic floating teeth and by hydraulically controlling the stone cutter system as described in this invention.
It is yet still a further object of the present invention to demonstrate relevant methods for implementing the unique design of the foldable and towable characteristics that the system possesses.
Naturally, further goals and objects of the invention are disclosed throughout other areas of the specification and claims.